The highly anticipated film of the Sword Art Online anime, titled Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale has a brand new trailer revealing the release date and brand new characters.

The official website for the Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale anime film has released the movie’s second trailer. The corresponding news post from Dengeki Online also features the new key visual and profiles for the new characters.

The film will open in Japan on February 18, 2017. Furthermore, an international release is planned for later in the year, promising to screen the film in a 1,000 theaters worldwide, and is already confirmed for North America and Australia.

Additionally, the following cast from the previous two anime series are reprising their roles:

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kirito

Haruka Tomatsu as Asuna

Rina Hidaka as Silica/Keiko

Ayahi Takagaki as Lisbeth/Rika

Miyuki Sawashiro as Sinon/Shino

Hiroaki Hirata as Klein/Ryotaro

Kanae Itō as Yui

Ayana Taketatsu as Leafa/Suguha

Hiroki Yasumoto as Agil/Andrew

Kouichi Yamadera as Akihiko Kayaba

Original light novel author Reki Kawahara is notably writing the original story for the movie. The main staff includes Tomohiko Ito, who is returning from the anime series to direct the movie along with studio A-1 Pictures. Also returning is character designer Shingo Adachi who is designing the characters based on abec‘s original character designs. In addition, Yuki Kajiura is returning to compose the music.

Interestingly, they’ve brought on Kentaro Waki as the director of photography for Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, and based on his work at Ufotable on God Eater, his style shows off well in the world of Ito‘s Sword Art Online.

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale’s New Key Visual

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale‘s New Characters

Yuna, “an idol in the AR world of Ordinal Scale. If a player encounters her in the game, they can acquire special upgrades.”

Dr. Shigemura, “a developer and an authority on non-invasive BMI (Brain Machine Interface) research. He is also a professor in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Toho Technological University. Due to his radical theories on electrical physiology, his peers regard him as a crackpot.”

Eiji, “a mysterious young swordsman, who is the top ranked player in Ordinal Scale. Kirito and his friends encounter him during gameplay.”

The story is as follows:

It’s just a game, or so I thought..

A brand new story written by original author, Reki Kawahara!! People everywhere were enjoying a new game called Ordinal Scale, an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma, a new wearable console designed for AR (augmented reality) gaming. But, the players had no idea that a nightmare from the virtual world was starting to spread into reality!! As his fellow players find themselves in danger, the hero is called upon once again.

What do you think? Are you excited for the movie? Interested in these new characters? Or are you hoping it’ll screen in theatres in your country? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.